DealBook Online

By IAN AUSTEN, MARK SCOTT and PETER EAVIS

Published: April 4, 2013

TRANSITION The Toronto-Dominion Bank, which is pursuing an aggressive expansion into the United States, said on Wednesday that the head of its American operation would become its chief executive late next year.

Bharat B. Masrani, left, will take over the bank when W. Edmund Clark retires as president and chief executive in November 2014. To smooth the transition, Mr. Masrani will return to the bank’s head office in Toronto and become chief operating officer on July 1. IAN AUSTEN

NEGATIVE EFFECT Shares of Vodafone fell in London trading on Wednesday after Verizon Communications said it did not “currently have any intention to merge with or make an offer for Vodafone, whether alone or in conjunction with others.”

The statement by Verizon on Tuesday afternoon was in response to a report earlier in the day that the company was working with AT&T on a plan to take over and break up Vodafone. On Wednesday, the shares fell as much 3.7 percent.

PUBLIC DEBUT Shares of the notebook company Moleskine fell modestly on the first day of trading on Wednesday after the Italian company raised $314 million through an initial public offering.

Moleskine, whose leather-bound notebooks have been used by the likes of Picasso and van Gogh, is the latest European company to turn to the capital markets despite recent uncertainty caused by the bank crisis in Cyprus. In trading in Milan on Wednesday, shares closed at 2.28 euros a share, down 0.87 percent from its offering price. MARK SCOTT

RISING CONCERNS On the economic scene, it would seem heartening to see a surge in loans that banks are making to corporations of all sizes. The loans help finance business expansion, which may lead to job growth.

But the recent spurt in bank business lending is starting to flash some warning signs. The concern is that banks are making loans to businesses at rates that are so low they may end up being unprofitable. PETER EAVIS